Sunday, June 21, 2009

Pakistan wins T20 world cup :(

This is just miserable. I was not that upset when India got out from the world cup. They deserved it. But I am really upset now after Pakistan has won. It was the last team after Australia that I would have liked to see winning the world cup. But again, I think they deserved it. This win by Pakistan, to me, looks so much like the Indian win last time. Both the teams were underdogs. Both the teams had players who were capable of giving good individual performance. And both the teams played together as a team to win the cup.

Pakistan played well and performed when it really mattered. It was a surprising come back after their defeat at the hands of the English side. To start with, they were a rusty side and the press conference after their first game really confirms my assertion. I am sure that even Younis Khan would not have believed in his chance at the beginning as was clear from his attitude in that conference. But the Pakistani players just gained their momentum from there on.

It was quite an easy journey for them to the semi finals as the only test team that they had defeated till then was New Zealand. And had they been defeated by South Africans, it would just have been a matter of luck favouring their way by giving them easy draws. But their win over Sri Lanka and South Africa, two of the best sides in the tournament really makes them a deserving winner. Boom Boom Afridi got his batting form at the right time. This guy always surprises me. After having started as a batsman, he moved on to become Pakistan's best bowler. His faster ones are really fast and he has quite many bowling variations in his armoury. Umar Gul was terrific to the extent that people doubted about the bowl being tempered after the reverse swing that he was obtaining. I don't know how much truth is there in it but regardless of it, his performance was fabulous.

Saqlain Mushtaq, it seems, had an everlasting impact on Pakistan. Many Pakistani spinners have tried to emulate him with Saeed Ajmal being the latest one in the list. He along with Amir and Razzaq really made Pakistani bowling line up formidable. For Razzaq, it was really a dream run. After having to forego his international career for a while due to his association with the ICl, it was really the kind of performance that he would have wanted. He has definitely consolidated his position in the Pakistani line up.

And this win also gives me a good opportunity to criticize the IPL once again. After having said by many that IPL will be a good practice ground for the Indian team, the tournament was finally won by a side that had no participation in it. Fitness of the player, it seems, can never ever replace anything in the game. I hope that before the next world cup, the Indian side has a good rest and all the players would play with 100% match fitness.